In 2011, following a decade of research across four continents, and after a year teaching linguistics at Carleton, I settled in the French Department as a professor of French linguistics. For me, French and linguistics are, like Montréal and smoked meat, inseparable: it was my love for French that motivated me to pursue three degrees in linguistics, and my love for linguistics has opened up my eyes to the astonishing diversity of the French language, both historically and as it is spoken around the world today. My interests revolve around Canadian French and African French, particularly in the areas of prosodic phonology and phonological variation. I am also fascinated by the effects of interaction between these varieties and the languages around them.

My current projects focus on the mapping of Iran’s languages. Language maps that have been produced elsewhere for Iran are either limited in geographic scope, or they rely on general impressions of where languages are spoken, without reference to specific locations or language data. In light of this, I am using the Nunaliit Atlas Framework to couple geographic and demographic information with equivalent sets of actual language forms (pronunciation, grammar, and words) originating from all districts in the country. A working classification of all of Iran’s languages and dialects as well as language data questionnaires are available on the project website, and detailed language maps are currently being assembled for Hormozgan Province of south-west Iran.

Grants and Research Positions

2016–2018. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada, Insight Development Grant: “A pilot atlas of the languages of Iran.” Co-investigator: Fraser Taylor.

2014–2016. Carleton University / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada, University Development Grant: “Cartographic representations of Iran’s languages.”

2014–2015. Carleton University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Junior Research Award: “Materials for an Atlas of Iran’s languages.”

2014. Visiting Scholar, Leiden University Center for Linguistics.

2011–2012. Uppsala University: “Phonologies in conflict: Features of an Arabic–Persian continuum across the Strait of Hormuz.”

2010. Swedish Research Council: “Documentation of minority languages in Iran, sociolinguistic milieu and the role of language in individual and group identity.” Principal investigator: Carina Jahani. Erik Anonby, unit leader for documentation of Kumzari, dialect of Larak Island.

2008–2010. Guest Researcher, Sultan Qaboos University / Leiden University Center for Linguistics: “Documentation of Kumzari, a language of northern Oman.”

2003. Update on Luri: How many languages? Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 13:2, 171-97. (link)

Other publications (selection)

2013. In language survival, is every barrier a barrier? How speakers of Majma-Ma use obstacles as a context for response. Endangered languages beyond boundaries: Community connections, collaborative approaches, and cross-disciplinary research. Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, Carleton University, October 1-4, 2013, ed. by Mary Jane Norris et al., 157-61. Bath, United Kingdom: Foundation for Endangered languages. (link)

2013. French in North Africa: Sociolinguistic situation and linguistic features. Guest lecture, Ethnography of North Africa, Carleton University, October 22, 2013.

2013. In language survival, is every barrier a barrier? How speakers of Majma-Ma use obstacles as a context for response. FEL XVII – 17th Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages: Endangered languages beyond boundaries: Community connections, collaborative approaches, and cross-disciplinary research, Carleton University, October 1-4, 2013.

2008. Stress-induced vowel lengthening and harmonization in Kumzari. Paper presented at the 1st International conference on languages and dialects in Iran, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, October 28-31, 2008.